Combination shade and screen for windows.



- G. V. HUGHES dz J. M. ROBINSON.

COMBINATION SHADE AND SCREEN POP WINDOWS. APBLIOATIOH 21mm KAY 11,1908.

938,147, rammedocnze, 1909.

I I I I l I I I i IIIII W//Vig: /N VIQ'NTORSQ UNI I STATES PATENT onion-CONSTANT V. HT IGHES AND JESSE M. ROBINSON, OF ALAMEDA, CALIFORNIA,ASSIGN- ORS TO VENTILATING WINDOW SHADE COMPANY, A CORPORATION OFARIZONA TERRITORY.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CONSTANT V. HUGHES and Jesse M. ROBINSON, citizensof the. United States, and residents of Alameda, in the county ofAlameda and State of Oalifornia, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Combination Shades and Screens for l/Vindows, of whichthe follow- \ing is a specification.

t This invention has for its object to provide an improved window shadeand fly screen, having the quality of excluding or modifyingthe lightand keeping out flies and other insects without obstructing or in- 15,:t-hroughthe open window; with the additional advantage of permittingeither the .terfering with the ventilation of the room shade or thescreen to be used and adjusted e ther together, or separately and alone.

To these ends and ob ects our invention embraces a novel arrangement ofwindow shade and screen, mounted for operation on -spring-rollers, andthe combination there- -w1th-;of fixtures and controlling devices or 25novel and peculiar construction, all hereinafter specified for operationas s t :torth.

. The, following description explains at length the nature of our saidinvention and :the manner in which we proceed to con thewhole of thewindow, and the screen adi justed to cover and protect the upper portionof the shade through which ventilation of the room is afforded byplacing the apertured portion of the shade in line with the openingabove the lowered l()l )-Sfl.-ll1. Fig. 2

is a vertical transverse section through Fig,

1. Fig; a detail-view ot'a section of one of the clamping-strips. Fig. 4is a View in perspective of one ot the combination fixtur'es ofourinvention, showing the brackets or supports for theshade-roller, thescreenroller and'the-idlcroller that control bothr the shade and thescreeir'as they are wound on or drawn oft the rollers.

A novel feature in the combination Wmdow-shade and screen of ourinvention con-- Specification of Letters Patent.

COMBINATION SHADE AND SCREEN FOR WIN DOWS.

Patented Oct. as, race;

Application filed May 11, 1908. Serial No. 432,114.

sists in a rolling window-shade of flexible,

' 1ightexcluding fabric or material formed or provided with an aperturedair-admitting section consisting of a number of relatively large andclosely arranged apertures or perforations, comprising what we havetermed the ventilating portion or section, combined with a screen ofopen-mesh or reticulated fabric of proper flexibility to wind or rolland unroll on a shade-roller; and supporting means for the shade-rollerand screenroller having separate bearings for the two rollers and soconstructed and arranged as to insure an invariably fixed andunchangeable position of the rollers after they are mounted on thewindow-casing. By means ofthese supports the two rollers are caused toWind and unwind evenly and uniformly with the eifect to keep the edgesof the separately movable and adjustable shade and screen always in lineand in true vertical relation to each other and to the'sides of thewindow-casing under all conditions of 'adjustment or movement of eithershade or screen.

According to our invention the shade being of more or less opaquequality of shade material, such as is generally used for a window-shade,is formed or provided with the apertured ventilating section or portiona, preferably located at the upper part near the shade-roller and withan unperforated or solid portion 7). Under such conditions it ispracticable to give free circulation of air through the Window and yethave the shade drawn down, as is usually done at night to alford thedesired privacy to the occupants of the room. But it is important atsuch timesespecially to exclude flies and insects that are attracted bythe light within and prevent them gaining entrance through the openWindow; we provide for operation with the shade an adjustable screen andmeans for adjusting and controlling it both separately of and inconnection with the shade, so as to cover and protect the window-openingin all the different positions of the shade and as Well when the shadeis drawn down to bring the apertured ventilating section in use, as whenthe shade is raised either Wholly or partially; This part of theinvention consists in a curtain of fine mesh fabric such as mosquitonetting, or similar reticulated fa hric or material of proper dimensionsin length and width to extend across and cover the window, and ofsuficient flexibility for rolling on a roller.

The screen-roller f and the shade-roller e are mounted on thewindow-casingover the top of the window-opening in such relation to eachother that. the shade and the screen will lie one u on. or against theother, maintaining a uni ormly even position with their 10 verticaledges in line, and running true and even as the shade and the screenwind or unwind, whether the are used jointly to exclude the light an orthe screen is set to cover the window in Whole or in part without usingthe shade.

It is "important that the screen-roller be hung and supportedhorizontally and paralel with the shade-roller and that the two rollersbe kept in such position without being liable to vary their position forthe reason that the shade and the vertical edges of the screen beingclamped or confined against the face of the casing by theclamping-strips the edges of both shade and screen must run true andeven so as to be grasped and held by the clamps. Such alinement anduniform movement of the two parts are secured through the combinationand arrange ment with the shade and screen rollers or fixtures ofpeculiar and novel construction comprising a pair of brackets pyeachhaving separate ears or projecting members 14--l6- m one above the otheron a common plate or body on which are flanges 18 also formed integralwith the plate, and standing at right angles to I the members 145-16.

The bracket is secured to the casing by screws taking through apertures19 in the flanges and as'the earsin which are the sockets or rests forthe journals of the shaderoller and the screen-roller, are a part of thebracket, the two rollers will be properly set and their parallelrelation maintained by the '45 single adjustment and fixing of the onepair of brackets on the window-casing In place of one of the screws forfixing the bracket to the casing is substituted a still iwire arm 21having a hook-shapcdouter end with a screw-thread 20 on the oppositeend, and formed with an oil'set or shoulder 22 on the shank. Ascrew-hook of this form has the double function of a fastening for thebracket and a support for the end of a curtain-rod, when curtains arehung over'the window when the hook is screwed in place and the shoulderformed by the offset before mentioned is set up closely against thebracket, the hook will support the weight of the curtains and thecurtain-pole and also fix the bracket tightly to the casing therebyavoiding the necessity of fixing additional and separate supports on thecasing.-

lhe clamping strips 9 overlapping the vertical edges of the shade andscreen have also screen the opemng,

the function of preventing the shade and screen from flapping orswinging in the wind and of closing the gapsvor openings between thoseparts and the window-casin through which flies and other insects coulotherwise gain entrance. These clamping strips are preferably formedeach of a thin slat of proper length to extendfrom a point beneath andclose under the shaderoller down to the bottom of the casing, or to thelowest point covered by the shade and the screen when they are drawndown. The slats are attached to the casing by spring hin es lb and areso placed as to clamp the sha e and the screen along the vertical edgesso with suiiicient force to hold them'smoothly and closely over thewindow-opening. The

slats before mentioned are also of proper width to overlap the shade,but they are cut away or recessed on the-side next the casing in suchmamier that while they will engage and bear upon the mar ,inal edge 6 ofthe shade, they will clear t e shade-stick g on the bottom of the shade,or will hear so lightly on it as not'to prevent or interfere '90 withthe shade moving readily up or down when the clampingstrips are raisedto take their pressure oil the edge of-the shade and allow it to bedrawn from or woundon the roller. The form or construction of theclamping-strip is shown in Fig. 3, beingpreferabiy recessed as at 25, totake the pressure of the strip ed the shade-stick g1 Another novelfeature in this clamping means consists in connecting the twoclampingstrips together, so that they can be raised or held ollthe shadeby using one hand, thereby leaving the other hand free to raise or lowerthe shade.

The clamping-strip g hinged to one side of the window-casing isconnected with the correspondingly formed strip on the opposits side bythe cord or wire 8. This wire is attached to the strip 9 at 'U,.i1lld isc0nnected to the other strip through the-medium of a bell-crank lever ofpeculiar construction, comprising an arm 2 on one leaf or member of thetop hinge, and a lever3 of thefirst order having one end connected tothe end of the arm 2 by a link 6, and its 11 fulcrum 5 on the end of afixed arm 4 on the stationary leaf or member of the hinge. The wire a isattached to the end 7 of the lever, and between that point and theopposite end that is connected to' the movable leaf of the hinge thefulcrum-point 5 is located. The efi'cct of this lever-cor'mection is toproduce movement of one clamping-stop simultaneously with the movementof the corresponding strip on the casing, simply by opening or drawingback the strip on which the knob or handle a is provided for thatpurpose. As both strips are attached to the window easing by springhinges, they are held normally closed upon the marginal sides of theshade exerting at such time sufficient pressure to prevent the shadefrom flapping under a strong breeze, and to avoid gaps or openingsbetween the edges of the shade and the face of the window-casing thatcommonly exist when the shade hangs loosely or unconfined.

Being connected together in the manner described, it is not possible torelease one edge of the shade without taking the pressure from theopposite side, or without releasing both edges of the shade from theclamps g g at the same moment, and by connecting. the clamps forsimultaneous movement the additional advantage is gained of releasingthe shade from the clamps by using one hand alone, thus leaving theother hand of the operator free to raise or adjust the'shade. Noseparate adjustment of the clamping-strips is therefore required, andthey are opened or closed on the shade independently of special care orattention.

In order to employ a relatively thin and flat clamping-strip it isdesirable that the shade-stick g on the bottom of the shade should bemade as thin as will be found consistent with the necessary stifinessand strength. The stick 9 is made somewhat shorter than the width of theshade, leavin marginal portions 6 on both sides beyon the ends of thestick and of suitable width to lie under and be caught between thewindow-casing and the clamping-face of the strip. The ends'of theshade-stick thus will slide readily between the clamps g g and thecasing, but the shade will be confined at all points along the edge 6when the clamps are.closed. A. stick of. the same character is used onthe screen, as shown at ,-Fig. 1. The top rail of the upper sashpreferably carries a 'stop-bOardlO arranged to close the space betweenthe sash and the window shade, as represented in Fig. 2, and so preventinsects from passing into the apartment when the upper sash is lowered.

In the ordinary sliding-sash window having a top and a bottom sash thereexists when either one or the other is opened, a

space between the two sashes, afl'ording an inlet for flies and insectsfrom the outside; and such space or gap will exist between the top-railof the bottom sash and the glass in the top-sash when the top-sash islowered; or when the bottom sash is raised. The means for clos'ingfltheopening 'between the.

top-rail of the lower'sash and the glass pane of the upper sashcomprises a stop-board l2'of proper length to fit closely in placebetween the upright sides of the windowframe, and of such width that itwill fit closely against the face of the glass pane in the sash and alsoproject over the top-rail of the lower sash to which it is fixed. Butthe stop-boards just described, and the spring-clamping strips and themeans for operating them, herein illustrated, are not claimed 111 thiscase, but are claimed in our application filed of even date herewith,Serial No. 432,115.

We claim l. The herein described adjustable shade and screen for awindow, comprising the stationary brackets, two shade-rollers supportedin said brackets in fixed and un varying relation and in parallelposition on a window casing, a shade of flexible fabric attached to oneof said rollers having an apertured air-admitting section, a flyscreenof flexible reticulated fabric attached to the other of said rollers,and the spring held clamping-strips on the window-casing adapted toextend over and clamp the shade and the screen along the marginal edgesthereof, the said clamping-strips having recessed back-faces.

2. The combination withabracket for supporting a shade-roller providedwith a per forated attaching flange, of a screw-fastening consisting ofa hook having a shank pro- -vided at its inner end with a screw threadroller, comprising flanges for securing the support to thewindow-casing1 and separate bearings for the journals of t eshade-roller and the screen-roller, arranged in fixed and unvaryingelation to sup ort the said rollers in aara lel position, an fasteningscrews for securing the said support on the Windowcasing, one of saidfastening means consisting of a hook having a straight shank provided onthe end with a screw-thread,

and having an offset beyond the screwthreaded portion'adapted to bearagainst the flange of the support through which it is inserted.

ooNsT NT v. HUGHES. JESSE M. 'aoBINsoN.

Witnesses:

EDWARD E. OSBORN.

M. RaoNnu.

